Jimmy Mulville

Hat Trick boss hits out at BBC 'dinosaurs'

Jimmy Mulville, the boss of Hat Trick Productions, the television production company behind Have I Got News For You, has labelled the BBC and ITV "dinosaurs" after lacklustre competition from their in-house production units led to a surge in his own business's profits.

Interview with Hat Trick boss Jimmy Mulville

All the successive BBC suits know that in Have I Got News For You, they have enduring comedy gold. Yet Jimmy Mulville's original expectations were low. "I didn't even like the title, and the pilot was the worst programme made by human beings up to that point"

BBC Two's Episodes: The first buzz comedy tip for 2011

"If you like shows like Extras, 30 Rock, The Office and Outnumbered, you'll probably like this," says producer Jimmy Mulville of Episodes, the first "buzz" TV show of 2011 - and he's right.

Jimmy Mulville: Cocaine, cancer and my father's suicide

As the creative force behind ­independent TV company Hat Trick Productions, Jimmy Mulville is regarded as one of the most influential figures in British television. But the man who brought Father Ted, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Have I Got News For You and Room 101 to our screens today reveals a personal tragedy that is in stark contrast to the anarchic comedy of his most memorable shows.

Andy Hamilton's glorious radio comedy returns for a new series. It may be bad luck for Hamilton's bank account that it's unlikely to transfer to TV (too expensive, too topical, too funny) but it's good news for listeners who discover tonight how many bankers are now in Hell, what to do with a dog that's suddenly turned up there and why God appears to be on a gap year. Hamilton, as ever, plays Satan, attended by lesser devils Scumspawn and Thomas (Robert Duncan and Jimmy Mulville). Annette Crosbie plays Satan's crisply academic biographer.